Method of producing ice.



No. 763,090- PATENTED JUNE 21, 1904.

W. E. CRANE, DBGD.

A. n. JOHNSON. 'ADHIRIBTBATDB.

METHOD: OF PRODUCING ICE APPLIOATION PI LBD IOVJ'I, 1899.

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PATBNTED-JUNE 1, 1904. w. E. cRA-Nnnm'n; A. B. JOHNSON. METHOD or PRODUCING ICE.

4 AIBLIQATION FILED NOV. 27, 1899.-

ADMINISTRATOR.

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no nonsn.

27147, f l r UNITED STATES] Patented June 21, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER ELIPHALET CRANE, OF 'MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA; A. ROLAND JOHNSON ADMINISTRATOR OF SAID CRANE, DECEASED.

METHOD OF PRODUCING ICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,090, dated J 11 21, 1904-.-

Original' application filed September 18,1899, Serial No- ,780,911. Divided and this application filed November 2'7, 1899. Serial No. 738,293.- (No specimens.)

To all ill/hone it pray concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER ELIPHALET CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and 5 State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Producing Ice; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled I in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present'invention relates to the production of ice in cakes, and has for its object to provide an improved method of progressively I forming cakes of ice in the vicinity of submerged freezing-plates, whereby improved results are obtained, which, generally stated, are increased speed in the formation of the cakes of ice, economy in the use of the refrigerant or refrigerific medium, and a reduction to a minimum of the cost and size of aplant capable of the production of a given amount of ice, from which it results that ice 7 may be more rapidly produced in merchant- 5 able form and at a reduced cost.

To the above ends my improved method consists of the novel manipulations hereinafter described, and defined in the claim.

It is a known fact that the resistance of ice 3 to the passage of heat increases about in proportion to the square of its thickness, or the distance through which the heat is to be conducted. It therefore follows that ice five and one-half inches thick, for example,would offer about four hundred and eighty-four times as much resistance to the passage of heat as ice one-fourth of an inch in thickness, and one hundred and twenty-one times as much as ice one-half an inch in thickness. Again, a layer 4 of ice one-fourth of an inch in thickness may be easily frozen in two minutes, while it requires to freeze to the center of a cake of ice eleven inches thick, or to freeze progressively five and one-half inches, for example, sixty hours in the ordinary practice. Hence it is desirable, for the sake of economy in time, cost, and space to limit to a minimum the distance through which heat must be conducted in the progressive formation of the cakes of ice.

My improved method deals with this prob- 5 lem and gives a practical and highly efiicient way of accomplishing the progressive freezing of successive thin additional layers'of ice onto the cake in the vicinity of submerged freezing-plates. i

More clearly stated, my improved method consists in the following successive actions, to wit: First, reducing the temperature of submerged freezing-plates below the freezingpoint, and thereby causing a thin layer ofice to be formed upon the surfaces ofthe freezing-plates, which thin layer of ice thus produced will adhere to the freezing-plates; second, in raising the temperature of the freezing-plates above the freezing-point, to thereby 5 loosen the previously formed and adhering ice therefrom; third, in separating the freed cake of ice a short distance from the said plates, so as to leave a thin space between the freezing-plates and the separated cake of ice, 7 into which space the water will flow to provide for the formation of the next additional layer of ice, and, fourth, successively repeating the said steps or manipulations in the order given to progressively form the cake of 7 5 ice by the successive addition of thin layers of ice thereto.

Other important though minor features of my improved method as preferably carried out will appear in the following'detail de- 8O scription, wherein the method is illustrated as carried into efiect by means of an apparatus especially designed for the purpose; but 7 it will be, of course, understood that my improved method may be carried out in various 5 ways, and by various means and 1s entirely independent of any particular apparatus.

This method application is filed as adivision of my pending application, Serial No. 730,911, filed September 18, 1899, entitled Apparatus 9 for the production of ice, and the apparatus herein illustrated and somewhat briefly described is substantially the same as that set forth and claimed inmy said pending application. Y

Referring to the apparatus illustrated, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a plan View of the apparatus with some parts broken away and others removed. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section taken approximately on the line 1' m of Fig. 1, showing certain of the parts on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the so-called freezing-plates with fluid-delivery connections thereto and therefrom, one side of said plate being removed to show the interior construction of the said plate; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line a? of Fig. 3.

The numeral 1 indicates a tank or receptacle for the water to be frozen, the same being provided with a water-inlet pipe 2 and an overflow or outlet pipe 3, the latter of which opens from the tank at the proper point to maintain the water at the desired level.

The freezing-plates which form the mold or molds, as well as the ice-adjusting frame or frames, are located within the tank. As

. shown, two freezing-plates a are divergently positioned to form a single mold for the formative end of the cake of ice. The freezingplates (1. at their lower edges are supported above the bottom of the tank 1, and at their upper edges they terminate below the level ofthe water within the said tank, this being done for a purpose to be hereinafter noted, although so far as the broader features of the method are concerned the freezing plates might extend to the bottom of the tank and project above the level of the water, and attention is here called to the fact that the term submerged freezing-plates is used in a sense broad enough to include either of the said arrangements,

By positioning the freezing-plates divergently a wedge-shaped mold for the formative end of the cake of ice is formed, and it will be understood that in practice a series of such molds would usually be employed.

The freezing plates a are hollow, being formed of laterally-spaced thin sheets of metal a, bent, as best shown in Fig. A, and riveted or otherwise secured together at their vertical edges, the upper and lower edges being closed by narrow horizontal strips a and a. Projecting-downward through the top strip (1. of each freezing-plate is an inlet-pipe a and an outlet-pipe a, the former of which terminates at its inner. end in the vicinity of the center of said freezing-plate, while the latter terminates at the marginal portion of said plate, being open at its lower end and provided farther up, but inward of the strip a with lateral openings 4/.

The inlet-pipe a discharges into a compartmentv (4 formed by a U-shaped partition a, and the compartment a opens. at its upper end into a larger compartment or expansionchamber (4 formed by a larger U-shaped partition (o which is inverted and contains the smaller U-shaped partition a within it.

The compartment (4 opens at its lower end lnto a still larger compartment or expansion- 1 chamber (4 formed at the marginal portion of the freezing-plate a. A short vertical partition (0 connects the lower portion of the partition a" with the lower marginal strip a of the freezing-plate, so that the right and left hand sides of the largest expansion-compartment (1/ finds communication only at its upper portion. The compartments a", a and a being successively larger or of greater holding capacity, the refrigerant or refrigerific fluid will have the greatest activity in the first-noted compartment, which is at the central or intermediate portion of the freezing-plate, and the freezing action will be slightly decreased in intensity toward the marginal portions of the plate. Otherwise stated, the greatest freezing activity will take place at the point of discharge from the inlet-pipe a and will be gradually decreased as the fluid passes outward to the discharge or outlet pipe (4". This process of freezing the ice against the freezing-plate by beginning the freezing action at the central portion thereof is productive of pure ice, as all impurities of the ice are not only permitted to escape, but are forced from the freezing zone.

The inlet and outlet pipes ai and (6, respectively, are shown as provided with valves (4 and a. The inlet-pipe a is provided with branches 6 and b, the former of which leads from a source of supply of the fluid refrigerant or refrigeriflc medium, such as liquid ammonia, while the latter leads from a source of supply of.a relatively warm fluid or thawing agent, such as heated and expanded ammonia-gas, having a temperature above the freezing-point.

The exit or outlet pipe (fimay also have branches Z2 and b", the former of which to prevent waste should return to the source from whence the fluid refrigerant circulates, while the latter should likewise return to the source from whence came the thawing agent.

.The branch pipes 7), 7), b and b" are provided with hand-valves If, by means of which the proper flow of the refrigerant and of the thawing agent or medium may be controlled at will and in alternate order.

Cooperating with the wedge-shaped mold formed by the diverging freezing-plates a (or cooperating one with each mold, whereseveral molds are employed) is an ice-controlling frame, by. means of which the cake of ice is held andproperly adjusted with respect to the freezing-plates. The form of controlling-frame illustrated is a convenient device for adjusting the cake of ice; but it will of course be understood that the cake of icemight be adjusted by hand or by other devices. r

The controlling-frame illustrated, briefly described, comprises as follows: f indicates a skeleton framework, which is adapted to em brace and support the cake of ice 2 and is f on the frame f, cooperates to impart the forward and retrograde movements to the icecontrolling frame as an entirety. At its upper end the rod or shaft f is provided with a hand-wheel f by means of which it may be readily turned.

The controlling-framef is further provided with a securing frame or bracket f which is provided with a series of spikes f, that work through suitable perforations in theframef as guides and are adapted to be forced into the cake of ice .2 to secure the same to the frame for to be withdrawn from the said cake to release the same by means of a hand-lever f pivoted to lugs f on the frame f and connected to said securing-bracket f by a short link f. The lever f is shown as provided with a dog or latch f, which cooperates with a lock segment f on the frame f to hold said lever and the spikes f in their operative positions, as shown in Fig. 2.

The use of the apparatus in carrying out my improved method will be substantially as follows: The tank is of course kept supplied with water, so as to submerge the freezingplates, or at least the active portions thereof. To carry into efl ect the first step of the process, the liquid ammonia or other refrigerific medium is admitted through the inlet-pipe 0, and its branch I) into the freezing-plates, and a thin layer of ice is frozen to the surface of the freezing-plates within the mold. In starting this action in connection with divergent freezing-plates, or even in connection with freezing-plates otherwise disposed, a blank would usually be employed within the mold, to which the first layer of ice would be added or attached. This blank may be held and adjusted by the controlling-frame to give the initial adjustments or steps of movement to the cake of ice in the first steps of its formation and before the ice itself has been increased to a body capable of being held by the frame.

The second step of the movement is carried out by shutting off the refrigerific medium and letting the thawing medium circulate for a short interval of time through the freezingplates, this, as is obvious, being readily accomplished by the proper manipulation of the valves 5. By this thawing action the cake or body of ice or the ice already formed in the mold at the formative end of the cake is readily loosened from the freezing-plates.

' The third step of the method is carried out by moving the cake of ice, which by the second step was released from the freezingplates, a short distance from the said plates. This allows the water in the tank to flow between the separated cake and the freezingplates, so that bya repetition of the first step of the method an additional thin layer of ice is added to the formative end of the cake.

WVhat will be termed the fourth feature of the method consists in successively repeating the first three steps in the order given, whereby successive additional thin layers of ice are frozen on and added to the cake of ice. and the cakes of ice are progressively formed of thin strata or layers.

It will be understood that the outwardlyprojecting end of the progressively-formed cake of ice will from time to time be cut off or severed from the main body of the ice to give cakes of the desired size for commercial purposes.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

The process of forming a block of ice which consists in freezing a wedge-shaped cake of ice between submerged freezing-surfaces, separating and withdrawing said cake from the freezing-surfaces, freezing a thin layer of ice progressively from the center to the edges of each of the wedge surfaces, and in repeating the steps of separating, withdrawing and freezing layers progressively from the center to the edges of the wedge surfaces to continually extend the length of the block by the repeated addition thereto of layers of pure solid ice.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER ELIPHALET CRANE.

IVitnesses:

MABEL H. MoGRoRY, F. D. MERCHANT. 

